They met backstage at an NSYNC concert twenty-five years ago and stayed up until 5am laughing. They’ve been showing up for each other ever since.

In this live conversation from the Waking Up with Ryan launch in Venice, actresses Jenna Dewan and Emmanuelle Chriqui get honest about what it actually takes to keep a friendship alive for a quarter century, especially two women in the same industry, often up for the same roles.

They talk about the “ugly stuff” nobody admits to: the early envy and competitiveness, and how they learned to turn it into admiration. They talk about protecting their bond when outside forces tried to drive a wedge between them. And they go somewhere deeper, into what it means to show up for someone in real pain: not rushing to fix it, but knowing where the hurt lives in the other person and loving them there.

Jenna opens up about the guilt of juggling a career, a partner, and three kids. Emmanuelle shares what it meant to have Jenna show up with real presence through some of the hardest personal and family moments of her life. This one is about friendship. The kind that carries you.

New episodes of Waking Up with Ryan every weekday morning, with longer conversations like this one every other week.

You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if the way you live today is preparing you for how you'll face your final moments? In this episode, Ryan shares a deeply moving story from a recent experience — being invited to sit with a dying woman and her family in her last hours, guiding a ceremony of prayer, meditation, and release. What unfolded was one of the most powerful teachings on forgiveness and freedom he's ever witnessed.

You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Being human is inherently strange—we're infinite, boundless awareness crammed into a small body, juggling emails, money, and relationships while forgetting who we really are. In this episode of Waking Up with Ryan, Ryan explores why life feels so hard, drawing on a Talmudic teaching about the soul forgetting itself at birth, and compares our everyday experience to a nightmare that feels completely real until we wake up.

You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Your life is hard. There's stress, pressure, and a constant stream of self-judgment — but what if the answer isn't to fight your ego, but to love it?

In this episode, Ryan explores a question: Can you love your ego? He unpacks why resisting your ego only strengthens it, why "spiritual bypassing" can become its own form of toxic positivity, and how true love means making space for every part of your experience, ego included.

You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever judged someone for having the exact thing you want in your life? In this episode, Ryan unpacks why the people who trigger your jealousy might actually be proof of what's possible for you, not evidence of what you lack. Ryan explores how competition and comparison can quietly kill our manifestation, and why gratitude — real gratitude for what's already here, not some imagined future — is the true open door to abundance.

You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We move too fast — while life itself moves slowly, patiently. In this episode, Ryan explores why pace matters so much for feeling connected to the universe, using the Jewish tradition of Sabbath and Esther Hicks' image of a car sliding down a hill to show why catching your mind early (before it builds momentum) changes everything. Includes a guided pause practice to help you slow down and simply be.

You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The more you stare at a problem, the harder it becomes to see the solution. In this episode of Waking Up with Ryan, Ryan explores a radical shift in perspective: what if the solution to your problem already exists the moment the problem appears — and it's only the illusion of time (and fear) that keeps you from seeing it?

You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Too often, we forget to ask for help until we're completely overwhelmed — but you were never meant to do this life alone. In this episode, Ryan shares a deeply personal story about a journey to meet his surrogate-born daughter, and the incredible string of "angels" — strangers, flight attendants, nurses — who showed up exactly when needed. It's a powerful reminder that support surrounds us; we just have to ask for it. Ryan guides you through a beautiful meditation to invite the angels and energy around you into your awakening.

You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Get out of your head — your body's been talking to you all morning. In this episode of Waking Up With Ryan, we slow down to truly listen to what's happening beneath the surface: the physical sensations and emotions we so often override with thought.

Ryan explores why we learned early in life to dissociate from uncomfortable emotions in order to feel safe and loved, and how that avoidance quietly builds pressure until it erupts. You'll learn why feeling only the "comfortable half" of your emotional range limits your capacity to be fully yourself, and why difficult emotions deserve to be welcomed, not shunned.

You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever wake up already anxious, mind racing before your feet even hit the floor? In this episode, Ryan sits with you through those mornings — the low energy, the restless thoughts, the unease that can color your entire day if left unaddressed. Instead of rushing into your to-do list, take a few minutes to pause, breathe, and reconnect with yourself before the world pulls you in a hundred directions.

You can follow Ryan on Instagram (@wakingupwithryan), YouTube (@wakingupwithryanpod), or visit wakingupwithryan.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.